Assassini Trilogy, The
The The Assassini Trilogy, aka Acts of the Assassini by Jon Courtenay Grimwood, aka Jonathan Grimwood. Genres and Sub-Genres Historical Urban Fantasy / Alternate History / Historical Vampire Fiction Series Description or Overview ✤ In the depths of night, customs officers board a galley in a harbor and overpower its guards. In the hold they find oil and silver, and a naked boy chained to the bulkhead. Stunningly beautiful but half-starved, the boy has no name. The officers break the boy's chains to rescue him, but he escapes. Venice is at the height of its power. Duke Marco commands the seas, taxes his colonies, and, like every duke before him, fears assassins better than his own. In a side chapel, Marco's thirteen-year old cousin prays for deliverance from her forced marriage. It is her bad fortune to be there when Moorish pirates break in to steal a chalice, but it is the Moors' good fortune - they kidnap her and demand ransom from the Duke. As day dawns, Atilo, the Duke's chief assassin, prepares to kill the man who let in the pirates. Having cut the traitor's throat, he turns back, having heard a noise, and finds a stranger crouched over the dying man, drinking blood from the wound. The speed with which the boy dodges a dagger and scales a pillar stuns Atilo. And the assassin knows he has to find the boy. Not to kill him though—because he's finally found what he thought he would never find. — Someone fit to be his apprentice. ~ Goodreads | The Fallen Blade ✤ Venice, 1407. A powerful city with powerful enemies. Duke Marco has the throne, but his ruthless aunt and uncle rule in his stead, scheming against their enemies and each other. The pawn at the heart of their struggle is the Duke’s young cousin, Lady Giuletta. When she is abducted by Mamluk pirates, it is an outrage that will trigger war. As the Germanic emperor and Mamluk sultan gather their forces against the city, Venice is heading for a battle it will surely lose. Its only hope lies in a mysterious boy possessed of inhuman strength and speed and a past wrapped in mystery. ~ The Fallen Blade | Jon Courtenay Grimwood Lead's Species * Thief, human Primary Supe * vampires What Sets it Apart * Narrative Type and Narrators * Books in Series Vampire Assassin Trilogy: # The Fallen Blade: Act One of the Assassini (2011) # The Outcast Blade: Act Two of the Assassini (2012) # The Exiled Blade: Act Three of the Assassini (2013) Shorts, Novellas, Anthologies and Guides World Building Setting Venice, early 1400s Places: Supernatural Elements ✥ Vampire, witches, mages, weres Glossary: * Krieghunds: Wolf Brothers (werewolves) 'Groups & Organizations': * World Protagonist ✥ The most important character, and the one who ties the plot together, is the beautiful, pale-skinned, silver-haired Tycho, who is described by Grimwood as "a seventeen-year-old boy with strange hungers." The story begins with Tycho in captivity—chained to a wall with silver-lined shackles. Aha! You're beginning to figure out just who, or what, Tycho is. Here are a few more of his traits: extremely sun sensitive, sees in the dark, is strongly affected by the moon, can't cross water, has super strength, and can climb tall buildings in a single bound. Although no one actually labels Tycho as such, we can probably assume that he is a vampire. Tycho himself doesn't know what he is or where he came from. His only memory is living as a child slave in Vinland and then waking up 100 years later in captivity in the Middle East. ~ Fang-tastic Book Cover Summeries ✤ BOOK ONE - The Fallen Blade (2011): In the depths of night, customs officers board a galley in a harbor and overpower its guards. In the hold they find oil and silver, and a naked boy chained to the bulkhead. Stunningly beautiful but half-starved, the boy has no name. The officers break the boy's chains to rescue him, but he escapes. Venice is at the height of its power. In theory Duke Marco commands. But Marco is a simpleton so his aunt and uncle rule in his stead. They command the seas, tax the colonies, and, like those in power before them, fear assassins better than their own. In a side chapel, Marco's fifteen-year old cousin prays for deliverance from her forced marriage. It is her bad fortune to be there when Mamluk pirates break in to steal a chalice, but it is the Mamluks' good luck - they kidnap her. In the gardens beside the chapel, Atilo, the Duke's chief assassin, prepares to kill his latest victim. Having cut the man's throat, he turns back, having heard a noise, and finds a boy crouched over the dying man, drinking blood from the wound. The speed with which the boy dodges a dagger and scales a wall stuns Atilo. And the assassin knows he has to find the boy. Not to kill him, but because he's finally found what he thought he would never find. Someone fit to be his apprentice. FF ✤ BOOK TWO - The Outcast Blade: As the Byzantine and German emperors plot war against each other, Venice's future rests in the hands of three unwilling people: The newly knighted Sir Tycho. An ex-slave and trained assassin who defeated the Mamluk navy but cannot make the woman he loves love him back. Tortured by secrets, afraid of the daylight, he sees no reason to save a city he hates. The grieving Lady Giulietta. Impossibly rich, deeply spoilt. A virgin, a mother, a widow... Both emperors want her hand for their sons in marriage. All she wants is to retire from the poisonous world of the Venetian court to mourn her husband in peace. And finally a naked, mud-strewn girl who crawls from a paupers' grave on an island in the Venetian lagoon and begins by killing the men who buried her. All love affairs are complicated at times but on this one hangs the fate of Europe's richest city and two empires. ~ FF ✤ BOOK THREE - The Exiled Blade: Venice stands victorious. It has beaten back the German emperor's army and the Byzantine navy. The Duchess Alexa's party at court is strong again. Her niece, Lady Giulietta, will be the next Regent, and possibly the next duchess. Giulietta's lover, Lord Tycho, will sit beside her. But no one is prepared for the fury of Prince Alonzo, exiled regent and traitor to his city. No one is prepared for the harshest winter Europe has ever known. As the canals of Venice freeze and wolves cross the ice from the north, Alonzo's plotting brings the Venetian empire to the very edge of destruction. With the Millioni family at war with itself, Lord Tycho, once a slave and a trained assassin, has to ask himself the only question that matters. How much is he prepared to sacrifice to keep Lady Giulietta's city safe? ~ FF Category:Series